Rust gleams beneath a maple crown
Old wagons sleep as dusk pulls down;
A trumpet echo drifts away
Where children laughed the golden day
A worker hums while coiling rope
His breath half tired half filled with hope;
He smells the cider hears the song
And feels the world both right and wrong
The rails extend to no demand
They meet the horizon hand in hand;
Departure waits yet none must flee—
The beauty lies in “yet to be ”
A final spark from lantern’s rim
Lights dust that dances soft and dim;
And through the hush the maple sings—
Contentment rests in simple things